1891 - A Recipe in Poetry for Pumpkin Pie (and a photo documentary of a pie)

I had no idea pumpkin pies have been the muse to so many poets! 

Pumpkin pie poems are coming out of the the woodwork it seems.  They each have their charm, and this one gets my applause for trying to put a recipe to verse.  

Published in Good Housekeeping, 1891.

This pumpkin was rescued  from being thrown away at school after the pumpkin season for kindergarten had ended. :-)

PUMPKIN PIES


In the kitchen fair Phyllis, one hand 'neath her chin 

   (Her dear little chin. with the dimple nicked in,) 

And a look on her face that she means to be wise,

  Sits and ponders the question of making some pies.

“Let me see, now! " she says. “there is apple and quince; 

  There is peach, there is cherry, there's lemon and mince;

But I think," here a blush a sweet secret confessed,

  “Of them all Colin’s sure to like pumpkin the best!

And though, oh dear me, they will be lots of bother,

  I know I can make them as good as his mother!

Or, perhaps he may think mine a little the best:

  How I'll smile then and say ‘Surely Colin you jest! '

While he’ll whisper.  'T'is so,’ all unheard by the rest. 

   But before I begin, there's the pumpkin to find;

I shall be sadly misled if it's not to my mind."

  So she hastens away, like the maiden of old,

To the garden, where glimmer the great globes of gold. 

  And selects one with care—quite as large and as mellow 

As once formed the coach of the good Cinderella!

  To the kitchen then back, in delight with her prize, 

And a knife for the wand of the fairy applies, 

  When, presto! the pumpkin is soon changed into pies.


HOW SHE DOES IT.

Cut the pumpkin in half, just as smooth as you can,

   And put it to bake in a clean dripping pan—

When the seeds are removed—with the skin side on top,

  In a very slow oven. ’Twill be time to stop

When you find it will scrape from the rind with a spoon,

   Like a crusty baked loaf ’twill be nicely brown soon.

Mash finely, and to one quart of pumpkin, while hot,

   Stir of butter, a quarter of a pound in the pot;

Let cool, and add to it what sugar you like;

   (Not too much or too little, a medium strike);

Then pour in a quart of milk fresh in the pan,

   ('Tis better to let it be cream if you can);

Then the yolks of four eggs, beaten well to be nice,

   With two tablespoonfuls of ginger as spice,

One of nutmeg, too. If you wish them quite comely,

   Bake in a quick oven with bottom crust only.

Of the whites of the eggs a stiff froth should now rise

   To spread over the tops. Who could wish better pies?

                                                                                 

                                                          —Adelaide Preston  

These photos were taken to show children where pumpkin pies come from.  I should have started with a field though!

1899 - Hurrah! Pumpkin Pie Poems

I didn't know the song that I sang in elementary school every Thanksgiving season was a poem by Lydia Maria Child.  
And I do not think we ever sang the last two verses.  
I would have remembered "Hurrah for the pumpkin pie" !  

Both poems were in Werner's Magazine: A Magazine of Expression in 1899.

A BOY'S THANKSGIVING. 
           By Lydia Maria Child.


OVER the river and through the wood
To grandfather's house we go;
The horse knows the way to carry the sleigh
Through the white and drifted snow.

Over the river and through the wood!
Oh, how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes and bites the nose
As over the ground we go.

Over the river and through the wood,
And straight through the barnyard gate,
We seem to go extremely slow;
It is so hard to wait!


Over the river and through the wood!
Now grandmother's cap I spy!

Hurrah for the fun! Is the pudding done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!




PUMPKIN PIE.

WHEN melancholy days come round and leaves get brown and red;
When corn is shocked, and when you add a blanket to your bed;
When apples, pared and quartered, are set in the sun to dry;
This is the time you smack your lips and think of pumpkin pie.

This pumpkin pie's a tempting dish to almost any fellow;
So sweet and tender, luscious (yum!) and then, withal, so yellow.
You stir up eggs and milk and spice and sugar, O my eye!
And then you add the pumpkin, and that makes the pumpkin pie.

1894 - Mystery of the Huntington Seed Co. Catalogs

When I looked at my first Huntington catalogs in the Biodiversity Heritage Library I got the impression they didn't like color!  Drab, or very conservatively colored, catalogs from 1895 through 1899 were so unexpected given the other seedsmen were reveling in chromoliths.

But, it turned out the Biodiversity Heritage Library simply had an incomplete selection.  The Smithsonian Institute had a jolly colorful one.  Here are a few covers and backs of catalogs.
I think I am doing this overview in lieu of having any information about the men who ran the business!

So, first the nice colorful Smithsonian catalog from 1894.  Following are many drab little poor relatives. 

What happened after 1894!!??

Here they come.  What a let down....

1895

No back cover.

1896

back

1896

I like this cover.  The page design gives it energy.

1897

This is fuddy-duddy, but a sprightly paper color.

Note the transition to Huntington & Page!  Mr. Page continues to be the secretary of the company.

1899

I looked to see if the building was still there, but no. 
There are a few that look remarkably like it down the street, but this building is gone.

Crazy perspective in this cut, but I am a sucker for any proudly presented building engraving.  Do you see how the horses are smaller than the men further away?

1900

1900

Oh, yuck.

 Better...

1895 - Sacaline, Sacaline...Prettiest Forage I've Ever Seen...

Sacaline was originally adopted from Japan as an ornamental.  Its common name now is Giant Knotweed, and like it smaller cousin, Japanese Knotweed, is considered an invasive species in many places.  

The story of how it morphed from exotic ornamental to the farmers dream forage is interesting.  Sacaline was discovered by a Russian explorer on an island between Russia and Japan.  Then around 1869 it was discovered by gardeners in a Russian botanical garden where its impressive size and foliage was hard not to notice!  As an ornamental foliage plant it was exported to many countries.   
 A horrendous drought in Europe in 1893 starved a large number of animals.  It was noticed that Sacaline (Polygonum sachalinense) with its deep roots survived well and was eagerly eaten by cattle.  The French agriculturists advertised this  and by 1894 Sacaline was being promoted by seed companies as a wonder plant, a farmer's dream forage for difficult land and drought.

I noticed Scaline because of this engraving by A. Blanc's workshop.  Blanc is one of my favorite botanical artist engravers.  This page is from the 1895 Huntington Seed Company catalog.  

After you read the seedman's description it is interesting to read testimonials from people who tried to grow it from seed!!

To read the bottom of the page go to 1895 Huntington Seed Company 

From a report of the California Agricultural Experiment Station 1896:

Wm. H. Hilton, Glen Ellen, Sonoma County.—Sacaline seeds were planted in a sandy sediment loam; the seeds came up, but were eaten off by the stock as fast as they appeared.

O. Hummeltenberg, Santa Clara, Santa Clara County.—Sacaline, after transplanting,
grew to be a foot high, but died down in autumn.  Since then the plants sprouted again, butthe cold weather has cut them down again, and I do not know whether they will grow again or not. I do not think it will become a pest on our place.

H. E. Brown, St. Helena, Napa County.—I raised some fine plants of Sacaline and planted some on gravel, some on adobe, some on hard dry land, some on wet land, and some on good loam.  All died.

S. H. Haskell, Portersville, Tulare County.—Sacaline plants were sunburnt pretty badly.

A. B. Leckenby, Bakersfield, Kern County —...is easily propagated from its numerous rhizomes, but seeds sparingly, if at all. Polygonum sachalinense with us appears to be less valuable than the two species mentioned.  Our experience is limited to one large plant received from the University. The foliage is very sensitive to frost, and it is evidently poorly adapted to our soil.

J. A. Girard, Cauucos, San Luis Obispo County—One dozen plants of Saghalin polygonum, with abundance of water, now cover a space about sixteen feet square. I intend, with the seed I shall gather, to experiment on dry and waste land. '

C. B. Blain, La Canada, Los Angeles County.—Saghalin polygonum seed germinated very poorly, but the few plants I have, are doing nicely.

Mrs. Theresa Keys, Alhambra, Los Angeles County.—Sacaline seeds came up very well, better than I feared from what I had read of the difficulty in starting them. I have not transplanted them yet; fearing to do so till after the rains come, as I want to put them on the edge of the arroyo in poor, sandy soil. I am afraid to put them on better land, for fear it might be a troublesome root to get out. Think it will be fine to hold the bank when the water tears down the arroyo in the winter; also, the stock can get it.

W L. Hall, Cerritos Ranch, Nordho , Ventura County.—The Sacaline seed that I got last year did not come up for me, and a few I gave a friend came up, but soon died out.

1893 - The Huntington Seed Co., Indianapolis

The Huntington Seed Co. is something of a mystery to me.  

I can't find much information on any of these Huntingtons, their community involvement, or even obituaries.  That sort of thing usually pops up if you just keep rephrasing queries...but it didn't. 

The following article I did find gives a good outline of their business without saying much.

They bought a great proportion of their seeds, but their catalogs seem to say they raise some of their own and the illustration on their invoices shows a farm.











Their catalogs always lead with strategies to engage the buyer, such as free books with purchase, and this contest below.

Love their  invoice design though! 

This following piece was in Indianapolis Illustrated : the capital city of Indiana : its growth, resources, commerce, manufacturing interests, financial institutions, and prospects, also sketches of the leading business concerns which contribute to the city's progress and prosperity : a complete history of the city from foundation to the present time

F. C. Huntington & Co.  

   Indianapolis stands second to no city in the union as regards great establishments devoted to the staple branches of trade. In many lines she leads, and notably so in that of the trade in choice garden and farm seeds, bulbs, etc., for in this department no house has achieved a more enviable reputation than that of Messrs F. C. Huntington & Co., 66 East Washington street. 

The business was founded in 1880 by Mr. J. F. Mendenhall at 78 and 80 East Market street. A flourishing trade was developed with growing connections and in August 1886 the business was purchased by Messrs. F. C. and J. T. Huntington.   
Under the existing style and title of F. C. Huntington & Co. the officers are as follows F. P. Huntington president, J. T. Huntington treasurer, T. V. Page, secretary.  

(So where is F. C. in the company?? From The Huntington Family in America, 1915, I found his name, Forest Conwell Huntington, born March 25, 1866, and it said he was a seedsman.  Now if he is the same F. C., he was 20 when he bought Mendenhall's seed business.  That makes me think J. T. was older. )

These gentlemen brought to bear special qualifications for carrying on the business including a wide range of practical experience thorough knowledge of the wants of the trade and ample energy and enterprise to push their goods all over the United States. 

On January 1, 1893 they removed from East Market street to their present desirable premises, 66 East Washington street, 22 x 196 feet in dimensions, and comprising two floors and basement.  Here they carry full lines of garden and farm seeds flower seeds imported bulbs and plants also the highest grade of commercial fertilizers.  

They are large growers of garden and farm seeds and secure special high-class seed all strictly fresh, free from impurities and warranted to produce heavily and give entire satisfaction. They are notably progressive and enterprising and each year bring out new and desirable varieties of vegetables which give an increased return to the grower. 

They are direct importers of the rarest foreign bulbs and seeds from Holland, Germany, France and Spain. Every year a member of the firm goes to Europe to make purchases and personally selects from the stocks of the leading growers of Europe.  Besides seeds and bulbs the firm carry a complete line of garden lawn and greenhouse implements, garden and farm tools, poultry supplies, cattle and horse foods, while they make a specialty of the most reliable fertilizers.

Their trade extends all over the United States and a staff of sixteen clerks and salesmen are kept busy in the establishment, while several men are required on the road. The Messrs. Huntington are natives of Indianapolis, universally popular and respected, and are active members of the board of trade and the Odd Fellows Order.  Theirs is one of the leading seed warehouses in theUnited States and has developed its immense trade and influential connections strictly on the basis of merit.  Purchases of seeds here invariably giving entire satisfaction. Those desirous of making selections should send for their handsome illustrated descriptive catalogue which gives full details of all the new varieties with a great deal of additional instructive matter.

1901 - Smile!, It's a Vegetable Peach!

F. C. Huntington and Company's illustration for the Vegetable Peach field made me smile.  

I posted on the Vegetable Peach of A. T. Cook early last year as his illustrations are even goofier!  

Information on the melon's use today is also there.  
(Yes, it is a melon!)




I really do have to try growing these for fun.  Maybe I could give seeds to my neighbor who has the room.

 I need a garden allotment!!  My own garden is small, hacked out of a hill into a terrace.  We don't have allotments here though.

Consider the perspective in this engraving :-)  How big ARE those melons in the back??